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2
Management
THE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Lee facilities in the weapons complex are owned by the federal government
and operated by private contractors selected and supervised by DOE. Management
in the complex is the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs
(ASDP). Supervision of the contractors at each of the sites is provided by field
offices, which are in the line management structure of the Office of Defense
Programs (DP) (see Table 2.13. Field offices are of two kinds: operations offices
and area offices. The principal official in an area office reports to an operations
office, and the manager of the operations office in turn reports to officials at DOE
headquarters. In the past, some managers of DOE field offices reported directly
to the Undersecretary, whereas others reported to the ASDP.
The field offices receive direction from several entities at DOE headquarters,
in addition to the Undersecretary and the ASDP. For example, direction is also
given by the Assistant Secretaly for Environment, Safety, and Health (ASEH) and
the Assistant Secretary for Management and Administration, as well as by the
General Counsel. At times the field offices have been challenged to respond to
inconsistent directions trom different offices at DOE headquarters. For example,
a fundamental conflict exists between security and safety directives concerning
the need to evacuate buildings rapidly in the event of an accident Safety
directives require emergency exits, yet some security directives require that
personnel exit through manned security checkpoints.
The budgeting for and the coordination of the operations of the complex are, in
the first instance, the responsibilities of the ASDP. However because the costs of
14
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MANAGEMENT
TABLE 2.1 DOE Operadens Offices and Facilities Subject to this Study in the
Weapons Complex
15
Albuquerque Op~radons Office
Management Support Division:
Amarillo Area Office:
Dayton Area Office:
Kansas City Area Office:
Los Alamos Area Office:
Pinellas Area Office:
Idaho Operations Office
Oak Ridge Operations Office
Richland Operations Office
Rocky Flats Operations Office
San Francisco Operations Office
Savannah River Operations Office
Sandia National Laboratory
P - tex Plant
Mound Facility
Kansas City Plant
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Pinellas Plant
Idaho Chemical Processing Plant
Ashtabula Plant
Feed Materials Production Center
Y-12 Plant
Hanford Nuclear Reservation
Rocky Flats Plant
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Savannah River Site
operations are so substantial and because, in recent years, public and congressional
scrutiny has become so intense, the Undersecretary and the Secretary have also
become intimately involved in budget, priority setting, and planning activities.
Until recently, oversight to assure that operations comply with health, safety,
and environmental and requirements and with other DOE orders (see the discussion
of DOE orders below) has been the responsibility of the ASEH. Within the past
several years, performance of this function was perceived to have become
ineffective, and the Department made significant efforts to upgrade the scope,
extent, and rigor of the oversight activities of the ASEH. Although the size of the
Office of Environment, Safety, and Health (EH) staff increased as a result, neither
this staff nor that of DP, which has line management authority, is large, especially
when viewed in relation to the total number of people in the nuclear weapons
complex. In FY 1989, DP and EH were authorized to have about 2,800 and 240
full-time equivalents, respectively, while the total number of employees among
the operating contractors was about 64,000. Of the EH employees, about 85
percent are dedicated to DP. Because of personnel ceilings and difficulties in
recruiting and retaining personnel with the necessary expertise, both the ASDP
and ASEH have found it necessary to make extensive use of outside consultants to
assist In the management function. The number of such connect employees
helping DP and EH perform their functions in FY 1989 was about 220 and 300,
respectively.
In the spring of 1989, the Secretary of Energy issued a notice (SEN-6-89, DOE
1989b) that the ASDP was to assume full responsibility for operational programs
and activities related to health, safety, and environmental protection and that the
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16
THE NUCl~:AR WEAPONS COMPLEX
ASEH was to be relieved of responsibility for reactor and nonreactor nuclear
facility safety. (See the discussion in the section "Changes" below.)
Contractors
Actual operation of the facilities in the weapons complex is performed by
private contractors, and several contractors often perform different functions at
the same site (see Table 2.2~. Most of the technical expertise with regard to
design, construction, and operations, as well as detailed knowledge of the facilities,
resides with the contractors. If DOE seeks to address a health, safety, or
environmental issue or to assess a problem that has arisen, it must place principal
reliance on the on-site contractor. Maintaining the motivation and sldlls of the
contractors is thus vital to the safe and proper operation of the complex.
In light of the special dependence of DOE on its contractors for technical and
management skills, the relationship between contractors and the DeparOnent must
be a partnership. The relationship is unusual in procurement situations: DOE
cannot ordinarily provide detailed specifications that precisely define a contractor's
obligations. Rather, DOE and the contractor must work together to confront
challenges that, in part, will be defined during the contract term. Contracts
typically provide the contractor with independent authority to manage its operations,
including some leeway in spending available funds subject, of course, to audit. In
matters of health, safety, and the environment, however, DOE retains full
contractual authority to require the contractor to follow Department instructions.
The Department headquarters issues its formal operational and safety instructions
to contractors principally in the form of DOE orders. Specifically, DOE has
established or is seeking to establish a hierarchy of orders to describe safe
practices in the design and operation of nuclear weapons facilities, as well as other
facilities operated by or for the Department. Most government organizations
require their contractors to meet age upon standards and specifications, but
they do not issue specific directives after initiation of a contract. In contrast, DOE
orders may become effective during the term of a contract and prescribe new
requirements for conduct by DOE organizational units and contractors.
Award Fees
A Deparunent contract typically provides that the contractor shall recover the
cost of operations, plus a fee that is determined at least in part by the adequacy of
the contractor's performance. To some contractors, the fee is not substantial, but
it can still serve as an important incentive for plant managers. The operators of
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (LLNL), and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) do not receive
performance-based award fees. It appears that DOE has made little use of this
mechanism for improving performance, since the fees awarded have not varied
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MANAGEMENT
TABLE 2~2 Management and Operations Conductors of Facilities
Considers in this Sway. Infonnation prove—by DOE.
17
Facility Management and Operstions Contractor
Dates of Operation
Ashtabula Plant (1952~*
Westinghouse Materials Co. of Ohio
Reactive Metals, ldc.
Bridgeport Brass Co.
Feed Materials Producdon Center (1951)
Westinghouse Materials Co. of Ohio
National Lead of Ohio, Inc.
Hanford Chemical Separation Facilities (1945)
Westinghouse Hanford Co.
Rockwell Hanford Corp.
Atlantic Richfield Hanford Co.
Isochem, ~c.
General Electric Corp.
ED. du Pant de Nemours and Co.
Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (1951)
Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear Co.
Exxon Nuclear Idaho Co., Inc.
Allied Chemical Coup.
Idaho Nuclear Co.
Phillips Petroleum
Amencan Cyanamid
Kansas City Plant (1948)
Allied-Signal Aerospace Co./KC Division
(formerly Bendix Kansas City Division)
Lawrence Livennore National Laboratory (1952)
University of California
Los Alamos National Laboratory (1943)
University of California
Mound Plant (1947)
EG&cG Applied Technologies
Monsanto Chemical Co.
Pantex Plant (1951)
Mason ~ Hanger-Silas Mason Co., ~c.
Proctor dc Gamble
Pinellas Plant (1957)
General Electric Corp.
Rocly Flats Plant (1951)
EG&G Rocky Flats Coup.
Rockwell International
Dow Chemical
1987-1992
1963-1987
195~1963
1985-1992
1951-1985
1987-1992
1975-1987
1967-1975
1964 1967
194~1964
1945-1946
198~1994
1979-1984
1971-1978
196~1971
1953-1966
1951-1953
1948-1991
1952-1992
1943-1992
1988-1993
1947-1988
1956-1991
1951-1956
1957-1993
1989-1993
1975-1989
1951-1975
Tabk 22 continues
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18
TABLE 2.2 Continued
THE NUCI~AR WEAPONS COMPILE
Facility Management and Operations$ Contractor
Dates of Operation
Sandia National Laboratory (1948)
AT&T (formerly Western Electric)
University of Califorrua
Savannah River Site (1953)
Westinghouse Savannah River Co.
E. I. du pant de Nemours and Co.
Y-12 Plant (1943)
Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.
Union Carbide Corp.
Tennessee Eastman Coup.
1949-1993
1948-1949
1989-1993
1953-1989
1984 1994
1947-1984
1943-1947
*Dates in parentheses indicate start of operation.
significantly over time. We recognize that some, perhaps most, contractors are
motivated by more than the desire for profit—by a sense of public service, or the
opportunity to develop or sharpen expertise that can be applied elsewhere, or the
chance to maintain a presence in nuclear activities at a time when commercial
nuclear opportunities are declining.
Contractor Turnover
In recent years the principal contractor at a number of sites has changed (see
Table 2.29. When a new contractor assumes responsibility the top management
of a site may be replaced, but as a practical matter most of the existing staff are
retained. The turnover among contractors thus does not reflect a drastic upheaval
in contractor personnel, most of whom have been employed at their sites for many
years. This pattern is a source of both benefits and costs. The facilities are
manned by staff who are familiar with operations from long experience, but they
are also accustomed to the old attitude that production automatically takes
precedence over health, safety, and environmental goals.
The recent turnover in contractors is, evidently, in part a consequence of
conclusions reached by corporate boards of directors that the management of
DOE weapons facilities is not sufficiently rewarding. The public outcry over
health, safety, and environmental problems has not made the contractor's function
any more attractive. The problem is aggravated by considerations of liability. As
DOE acknowledges the authority of state and local jurisdictions in matters of
public health, safety, and environment and narrows the indemnification it offers
to its contractors, it creates the prospect that a contractor might incur substantial
fines for noncompliance. Thus, considerations of liability may serve to reduce the
pool of potential contractors who are prepared to operate facilities in the complex.
In the past 2 years' two major contractors decided not to bid for continuation of
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MANAGEMENT
19
their contracts. At the same time, a third him has aggressively pursued contacts
at several major sites. If some of the smaller facilities are closed (see Appendix
B), this third fi'Tn may play an increasingly dominant role in managing the nuclear
weapons complex. The Mend is contrary to the generally understood governmental
intent to diversify its contractor force to avoid excessive dependence on a single
performer in areas of national security.
External Oversight
The Deparunent of Energy has become aware, pardy as a result of a report
issued by the National Research Council (NRC 1987) concerning the defense
production reactors, that the Department and its contractors have become too
insular. In response Be Secretary (DOE 1987) chartered an independent Advisory
Committee on Nuclear Facility Safety (ACNFS), a committee of knowledgeable
individuals largely from outside the complex. Participation on the ACNFS is a
part-dine activity for its members, but the ACNFS has already succeeded in
reviewing activities at many of the nuclear weapons facilities and has submitted
numerous findings and recommendations to the Secretary.
In 1988, Congress enacted legislation (Public Law 100456, 102 Stat. 20763 to
create a new federal agency to act as an external oversight body, the Defense
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The DNFSB is to be a five-member
board appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and
supported by a staff of 100. The board is directed by statute to issue reports from
time to time examining and assessing the safety of the weapons complex. The
reports are to be public to the extent possible. The Secretary will be required to
respond to the recommendations of the DNFSB. If the DNFSB determines that its
recommendation relates to an imminent or severe threat to public health or safety,
its recommendation and that of the Secretary will be submitted to the President for
decision. At the time this report was wntten, the board had not yet become
operational.
CHANGES
The new Secretary of Energy has stated his desire to revise the current
management structure of the De~unent significantly. As a first step in the
reorganization, the Secretary issued a notice (SEN-6-89, DOE 1989b) on May 19
that provides some indication of his intentions. The notice has several components:
· To establish unambiguous internal accountability for the compliance of
operations in the nuclear weapons complex with health, safety, and environmental
requirements, the Secretary has placed these line management responsibilities
entirely on the ASDP. The ASEH was explicitly relieved of responsibility for
developing and coordinating policy for nuclear reactors and nonreactor nuclear
facility safer; this responsibility is being assigned to the Assistant Secretary for
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20
THE NUCl~:AR WEAPONS COMPLEX
Nuclear Energy (ASNE). The ASEH will continue to have responsibility for
health, radiation safety, environmental protection, and worker safety. (Also see
Tuck 1989.)
· The ACNFS will be directed to cease its examination of safety issues that are
within the purview of He congressionally chartered DNFSB, once He Chairman
of the DNFSB provides notice that that board is prepared to assume oversight
responsibilities. The ACNFS will continue to exist, but it will focus on operations
other than those being examined by the DNFSB.
· The manager of the Savannah River Operations Office was directed to report
to the ASDP, rather than to the Undersecretary as in the past. This change was
intended to clarify the responsibility of the ASDP for operations. At the same
time, the Secretary created several new positions, relating to the restart of the
Savannah River reactors, that also report to the ASDP.
The changes reflect a recognition by the Secretary that the management
challenges facing DOE require careful reexamination of how the Deparunent has
operated in the past. Indeed, the order describing the changes stated that an
"extensive review" of organizational structures and management practices was
under way and that father announcements would be made.
In September, the Secretary described additional organizational changes
affecting oversight of nuclear facility safety within the Department (Watkins,
letter to J.F. Ahearne, ACNFS, September 1989; SEN-6A-89, DOE l989c). He
established offices within DP, the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), and the Office
of New Production Reactors that would provide independent checks on nuclear
safety performance in the respective line organizations. The Nuclear Self-
Assessment Offices will report directly to the senior program officials in the
respective offices. In addition, he established a separate Office of Nuclear Safety
with broad responsibilities to monitor and audit all aspects of nuclear safety in the
Deparunent, reporting directly to the Office of the Secretary.
We agree with the Secretary that line management under the ASDP should
have undiluted responsibility for all aspects of the operations of the weapons
complex, including safeguarding health, safety, and the environment. Line
management now clearly has the obligation to satisfy multiple objectives, and
production can no longer have priority over health, safety, and the environment.
Yet, a process must still exist by which unavoidable conflicts can be confronted
between production targets and health, safety, and environmental obligations in
the face of limited resources of budgets, facilities, and personnel. As discussed
later in this chapter, the Secretary's reorganization plan does not yet adequately
address how these conflicting needs are to be reconciled.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
The many problems now confronting DOE in connection with the weapons
complex are in large part the cumulative result of past management deficiencies.
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MANAGEMENT
21
We believe that restructuring should be guided by the following considerations:
1. Lines of authority and responsibility in the management and operation of
the facilities should be clear, simple, and unambiguous.
2. Decisions about any issue should be made initially at the lowest level of
management with the competence and authority to make them.
3. An internal safety oversight staff should be maintained with the power to
raise issues to the next management level when unresolved conflicts anse.
4. Effective communications with contractors and among the different offices
at each level in the management structure are essential.
5. Technical advice and assistance from outside the organization should be
sought to gain fresh perspectives.
6. Constant attention should be paid to the maintenance and improvement of
the technical capabilities and morale of personnel, whether federal or contractor
employees, upon whom the effectiveness of the entire program depends.
These principles are rudimentary, but we perceive that the Department has not
applied them consistently in the past.
Simple Lines of Authority
Conclusion The weapons facilities are operated under a complex management
structure with ambiguous lines of responsibility and authority.
Although the ASDP has initial line responsibility for budget issues and for the
overall management of the nuclear weapons complex, several managers of
operations do not report directly to the ASDP, but instead report to the
Undersecretary. In the case of the manager of the Savannah River Operations
Office, this special line of reporting has been changed by SEN-6-89 (DOE
1989b), as noted above. The reality is that in the past the operations offices have
not received much uniform central direction or control. This is obvious on even a
casual visit to the sites.
The Secretary's notice is intended to clarify the responsibility of the ASDP as
the responsible line manager for operation of the complex. Hereafter, the manager
for the Savannah River Operations Office is to report to him, and presumably, this
prefigures similar changes in the reporting responsibilities elsewhere in the complex.
The responsibilities of the various operations and area offices with respect to
headquarters, each other, and the contractors are largely the product of history.
The Albuquerque Operations Office, for example, has broad responsibilities. It
supervises a full range of activities at a variety of weapons facilities across the
country, so it cannot specialize its expertise or focus its attention on particular
types of operations. The office also seems to take care of matters that might be
considered DOE headquarters functions, such as evaluating and setting priorities
for all requests for improvement of facilities across the entire nuclear weapons
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22
THE NUT WEAPONS COMPLY
complex. Whether or not these appearances inhibit efficient management is
unclear to us, but they deserve careful examination.
Recommendation The Secretary should continue his efforts to simplify the line
management structure for the complex, establishing clear and unambiguous lines
of authority and responsibility.
Decisionmaking Processes
Conclusion Many decisions are now unnecessarily deferred by staff to higher
management levels, sometimes creating delay and paralysis in decisionrnalang.
Although it is clear that upper management should be fully informed about
controversial matters and obviously should have full discretion to revisit any
decision made by subordinate decisionmakers, the system should encourage
initial resolution at the lowest management level with the competence and authority
to resolve a matter, subject to review if necessary. This is the only approach that
can ensure that upper management levels are not swamped with unresolved
matters, thereby increasing the likelihood of faulty or misinformed decisions.
The system is too complex to be managed by just a few decisionmaking individuals.
The budget process provides a case in point. We were informed that all budget
issues relating to environmental and safety issues are routinely referred to the
ASDP, and often to the Undersecretary, for resolution. Although He sensitivity
of such matters in the current climate might explain the reluctance of managers to
make even tentative determinations of priorities, the fact remains that not all
issues can or should be addressed at the highest levels in the Department. Indeed,
the decisionmaking process should limit the issues that reach the upper levels of
the Department to those that present only the most difficult judgmental or policy
questions.
Of course, if staff at lower levels are to resolve issues in a fashion consistent
with the objectives of upper management, management must provide clear
guidelines for decisionmaking.
Recommendation The Department should strengthen its management structure
by delegating authority and responsibilityfor the initial resolution of issues to the
lowest possible management levels, subject to clear guidance and support from
upper management.
Internal Oversight Structure
Conclusion An oversight body internal to DOE but outside line management,
such as the organization under the direction of the Assistant Secretary of
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MANAGEMENT
23
Environment, Safety, and Health, is essential in ensuring the compliance of
operations with health, safe ry, and environmental objectives.
As noted already, oversight of the line management of the complex has been
provided in the past by the ASEH. Several studies, commencing with an internally
chartered report (DOE 1981), have urged the Department to upgrade that office to
assure that it can perform its function. Over the past several years, the Department
has made continuing efforts to strengthen the EH organization through increased
funding and substantially increased manpower. These efforts were noted with
approval in previous reports by the National Research Council (1987, 198Sb).
The Secretary stated in his May 1989 notice that the ASEH will no longer have
responsibility for overseeing reactor and nonreactor nuclear safely within the
weapons complex. The Secretary perceives the ASEH role to be diluting
responsibility, and he therefore intends to give a single line manager, the ASDP,
the responsibility for safety.
We believe that the Secretary has misperceived the function of the EH
organization bod1 to support DP with specialized expertise and to monitor the
health, safety, and environmental performance of DP. We agree that the line
management should have undiluted responsibility and authority for ensuring the
safety of operations, as well as compliance with health and environmental
requirements. The oversight function is not intended and should not be allowed to
diminish that responsibility. Its purpose is to provide a second set of eyes to
monitor activities and thereby to ensure that any deficiencies in decisions by the
operational line management are reported and corrected before an accident or
other adverse effect occurs. The currently popular maxim of "trust, but verify"
applies.
The oversight function, if properly implemented, has an important role in the
DOE management structure. As noted above, decisions should be made at the
lowest line management level with competence if decisional gridlock is to be
avoided. The oversight staff should monitor those decisions for their implications
for health, safety, and environmental concerns. When it questions the operational
decision, the oversight staff should be able to bring the matter to the next higher
level of line management for resolution. If the system operates properly, oversight
provides a mechanism for assuring that important issues and a balanced and fair
presentation of the fact~are brought up the management chain. In the absence
of this tension between operations and oversight organizations, the system must
rely solely on the strength of line management and an important element of
redundancy in assuring safety is lost. Similar conclusions were reached in an
evaluation of the management deficiencies in the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) that contributed to the space shuttle Challenger accident
in January 1986 (Rogers 19863. In response, NASA found it appropriate to create
an independent internal organization to oversee safety (National Academy of
Public Administration 19861.
We recognize that the Secretary's actions in diminishing the role of EH may be
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THE NUCl~AR WEAPONS COMPLEX
explained by additional factors. First, the Department may have concluded that
the current supply of technically capable personnel is insufficient to provide
adequate staff for both line management and oversight. Indeed, the recent
strengthening of the EH staff may in some instances have been at the expense of
that of the DP. Moreover, the acOviDes of EH may in some instances have been
seen as intruding on the management prerogatives of flee DP. There thus may well
have been an impression within the Department that the EH had expanded beyond
its appropriate bounds. Further, the ability to provide the operational line
management with staff competent in health, safety, and environmental areas in
competition with the DNFSB, the DOE contractors, and other private industrial
organizations as well as other agencies of government at all levels may have
led the Deparunent to conclude that the ASEH could not retain or recruit the
necessary staff to continue providing safety oversight.
Second, the Secretary's notice described the change in the ASEH oversight of
safety in light of the pending establishment of the congressionally chartered
DNFSB (see above). Because the DNFSB is to provide detailed scrutiny of line
management to assure safe operations, the Deparunent apparently has concluded
that it is unnecessary to maintain an internal organization that would serve a
duplicative purpose.
We agree that it is manifestly inefficient, perhaps even counterproductive, to
establish multiple layers of redundant oversight, each with extensive staffs.
Nonetheless, we believe that it is unwise to eliminate the responsibility for
oversight within DOE that is separate from the DP line management. The
DNFSB is not yet in place, and the new board should be given some opportunity
to build its capabilities. More importantly, the DNFSB is designed to serve a
function somewhat different from that of an internal safety oversight organization.
Because it is a part of DOE's internal structure, the DOE safety organization can
raise matters that affect safety internally for resolution within the line management
organization in a way that DNFSB staff will not be able to do. Examples of such
matters include the budget, allocation of resources, and maintenance—all of
which entail decisions that affect safety but that would be beyond the reach of an
outside agency. Indeed, many issues raised by independent internal safety personnel
can and should be resolved at a local level without any involvement even of the
DOE headquarters staff. The DNFSB, on the other hand, will not be part of the
Department- it will speak formally to the Secretary through public
announcements and thus it will not be in a position to elevate issues within the
DeparOnent's organization.
The difficulty experienced within the complex in providing for adequate
maintenance illustrates the need for independent internal oversight. Managers
have been and will continue to be under considerable pressure to meet production
goals. In the past this circumstance has had a direct effect on the ability to
conduct maintenance activities. For instance, the management of the Y-12 Plant
told us that in the face of budgetary strictures, maintenance is the main victim. In
1984, about 25 percent of the plant was rated as being in poor physical condition
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MANAGEMENT
25
or as having inadequate technology; the record has improved only slightly in the
interim. We also received data at several sites about the growth of the backlog in
responding to requests for maintenance. At the Idaho laboratory about 10 percent
of backlog requests are more than 2 years old. At the time of our visit to Rocky
Flats in Mach 1989, a considerable number of maintenance work orders designated
as safety related were several months old.
The facilities at the complex are aging, and considerations of national security
require that the physical plant remain in adequate condition. The specific funding
level that should be allocated to maintenance or replacement of equipment is, in
the aggregate, unclear. Rules of thumb applicable to industry may not be
appropriate for the complex, and situations within the complex vary from one
facility to another. It is clear, however, that maintenance has in general been
shortchanged. In these circumstances of the long-standing and pervasive inability
of line management to confront the problem, there is an essential obligation to
maintain careful oversight. Officials independent of line management should
identify the essential requirements for maintenance that affect health, safety, or
the environment and should fight to assure appropriate resources for maintenance.
In sum, we conclude that an independent oversight body within the complex
should be maintained to audit and monitor the DP for compliance at all levels and
raise concerns with appropriate levels of decisionmakers. This oversight body
need not be the existing EH organization, and oversight for safety, environment,
and health issues need not necessarily be performed by a single entity. Although
there is opportunity for organizational reform, the function of oversight should be
maintained.
Whenever the cognizant oversight staff finds a lack of compliance with goals
or applicable orders or regulations, or determines that designs, practices, or
allocation of resources violate or threaten to violate reasonable standards at any
level of management, they should attempt to ensure appropriate actions by DP
line management. Failing agreement, the oversight staff should then have authority
to
1. compel consideration of the matter to the next higher level of operational
management in consultation with staff at that level; in cases of continued
disagreement, it should be possible to continue this process up the management
line eventually leading to the ASDP, the Undersecretary, or ultimately, to the
Secretary; and
2. bring about a cessation of activity in cases of perceived imminent danger to
the health and safety of workers at the facility or of individuals in neighboring
communities.
As this report was being written in the early fall of 1989, it was unclear
whether the recently announced Nuclear Self-Assessment Offices would eventually
be able to perform the oversight functions we have outlined, because few details
about their actual capabilities and operations were available. It appears to us,
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26
THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLY
however, that the organizational solutions outlined thus far by DOE do not fully
address the identified problems.
Because line management is to be given responsibility to oversee its own
operations for safety, subject only to scrutiny by a newly created independent
office (Office of Nuclear Safety) reporting directly to the Secretary, there exists
no integrated system to elevate important safety issues beyond Be ASDP.
In some cases, it may eventually happen that DOE's internal oversight program
and DNFSB find themselves assuming unnecessarily duplicative roles. In these
cases, the Department and the board should cooperate to determine just how each
organization might adjust its functions to accommodate the other. It is premature
now to determine the appropriate roles; the relationship must evolve with time.
Recommendation The Department should maintain an internal oversight
organization with the authority to seek resolution of issues within the line
management structure.
Communication
Directives from Headquarters
Conclusion Problems exist in the development and content of communications
from DOE headquarters tofield offices and contractors.
As discussed above, the vehicle by which DOE headquarters provides formally
binding instructions on health, safety, and environmental performance to field
offices and contractors is the series of DOE orders. We perceive problems in both
the orders and the means by which they are developed.
DOE facilities, both within the weapons complex and elsewhere, differ
significantly from each other. This diversity creates difficulties in the application
of the orders. An order that provides concrete directions at one type of facility
will not necessarily be appropriate at another. Ideally, orders should be so
carefully drawn as to provide specific guidance and, at the same time, be flexible
enough to address appropriately the wide range of different facilities to which
they are applicable. It might be easier to tailor the orders to specific facilities or
types of facilities, for example, research laboratories or production plants, instead
of requiring all facilities to meet the same requirements.
The task of developing appropriate orders is difficult at best. The shortage of
qualified talent at DOE headquarters aggravates the problem, and at~mpiing to
supplement this talent by acquiring the services of ad hoc contractors is often only
counterproductive. Such contractors cannot bring the necessary breadth of
experience to the task.
The process by which draft orders are reviewed is coordinated by a division ot
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MANAGEMENT
27
DOE's Office of Management and Administration. This organization is responsible
for refereeing the review and comment process. However, it is not staffed with
personnel having technical expertise in health, safety, and environmental issues.
Further, in a recent effort to respond to an earlier recommendation of the National
Research Council (1987) regarding the need to strengthen the system by which
DOE orders are promulgated, the Department established expedited schedules.
The time available for external review of health, safety, and environmental orders
was shortened from the customary period of 6 weeks to 72 hours. Moreover,
DOE field offices and contractors have told us that their comments on draft orders
appear to have little effect. Although the changes have allowed DOE headquarters
to update and issue further orders, they have not had the benefit of a careful
review process.
A case in point is a recently issued DOE order (5480.11) addressing radiation
protection for occupational workers. The consensus of a contractor conference
(Albuquerque, January 31-February 3, 1989) was that this order will not
significantly reduce risk, that it will be expensive to implement, and that it is
overly broad in its reach. Yet, as far as we have been able to determine, the results
of the conference have had little if any effect on the order.
The process for maintaining and disseminating orders is itself antiquated. The
entire series consists of 11 volumes that are maintained manually. An up-to-date
index of the set is not available, and there is no cross-referencing system to
identify orders pertaining to a particular subject or applying to a particular
facility. DOE is currently investigating how to make the orders available on a
computerized data base and should pursue this effort vigorously. Moreover, the
process continues to lack a formal mechanism for reviewing orders on a periodic
basis to determine whether there is need to prune unneeded or superseded orders
or to revise current ones to bring them up to date with currently accepted standards
and practices.
Operations of rices are responsible for providing direction specific to the facilities
within their purview based on orders issued by DOE headquarters. In general,
however, the operations offices do not provide additional specialized direction,
with the result that disparate facilities are governed by the same instructions.
Further, when operations offices do provide colored directions, no formal
mechanism exists to ensure that the intention of the underlying order is met.
Recommendation DOE should reform its system for preparing and promulgating
its orders to address the deficiencies identified above.
Exchange of Information within the Complex
Conclusion Communications among organizations that confront common
problems and efforts to focus the resources of the complex on f nding solutions
are inadequate.
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THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX
Many of the facilities in the weapons complex confront similar challenges in
assuring safe and environmentally sound operations. Thus communication within
the complex can help to ensure that each facility obtains the benefit of lessons
learned at other plants and that resources are not needlessly spent with a variety of
contractors independently seeking solutions to common problems. Moreover,
communication can identify problems that, though only an irritant at any one
facility, may be significant in aggregate across the complex. The full resources of
the complex can Den be focused on resolving such problems swiftly and efficiently.
We found that many of the contractors and the associated operations offices
operated independently, with insufficient awareness of the existence of similar
problems elsewhere in the complex. False alarms from the alpha continuous air
monitors (alpha-CAMs) provide an illuminating example. These devices monitor
for alpha particles, which indicate the presence of certain radioactive materials in
the air, including plutonium. A number of facilities found that operations were
frequently disrupted by alarms from the alpha-CAMs, most of them false alarms.
It is customary when an alarm is triggered to clear the area immediately until
technicians with protective apparatus can investigate. But the alarms are (or
were) also sensitive to alpha emissions from radon, and normal background
fluctuations of radon frequently triggered the alarms unnecessarily. Although the
problem was occurring throughout the complex interfering significantly with
production at some locations—little or no effort was made to focus the full
resources of the complex on solving it. Facilities worked on the problem
independently, some without much progress. Personnel at the LANL, however,
were particularly knowledgeable about the problem and conducted some research
toward its resolution, but their insights were apparently not disseminated effectively
to the other plants. Similarly, results of research on this problem conducted at
other sites were not widely shared.
Although greater efforts at facilitating communication among the contractors
and among DOE staff are needed, there are no simple prescriptions for
accomplishing them. While decisions defining the responsibilities within the
complex flow appropriately from the Secretary down, there must be encouragement
of decentralized initiative by all levels of contractor and DOE staff. Such
initiatives span the range from identification of health, safety, and environmental
problems to the resolution of technical and management problems.
DOE is conducting topical conferences dealing with technical subjects of
relevance throughout the complex. Examples include annual topical meetings on
plutonium processing, modeling of environmental processes, operation of
incinerators, and topics of interest to the medical directors of the respective
facilities (see also Chapter 5~. We received the strong impression that the
opportunities for attending such conferences could be used more fully and that the
attendees from each organization could share their information more effectively
with their colleagues, so that they could learn as well as share. An electronic mail
network is available to most, if not all, personnel working in the complex. These
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29
means of communications and others, both formal and informal, should be
encouraged.
Recommendation The Department should work harder to overcome the natural
impediments to the pow of information among contractors and to facilitate
communication among the contractors and among DOE staff.
Independent Technical Advice
Conclusion The Department is not aggressive enough in seeking the advice and
course! of expertsfrom outside the weapons complex.
For reasons that may stem in part from the legacy of secrecy that has surrounded
the production of nuclear weapons, there has been a tendency by DOE and its
contractors to look inward in confronting problems. The complex has been too
insular and removed from the scrutiny of the public. Until recently, DOE has not
sought external and independent review of operating or engineering practices in
the complex. As a result, DOE has been urged to seek outside advice (e.g., NRC
1987, 1988b, and 1989a).
While not a substitute for having qualified people on the job, independent
scrutiny can provide new insights and bring the benefit of outside knowledge to
bear on the design and operation of plants and countless other matters. In
addition, awareness of the involvement of respected outside authorities could help
to restore public confidence in the work of the complex.
As noted earlier, the Department created the ACNFS to provide external peer
review. The ACNFS has provided useful advice to the Department in connection
with a wide range of issues over the short period of its existence. The Secretary
has determined, however, that the role of the ACNFS should be supplanted by the
congressionally chartered DNFSB with regard to those facilities that are to be
within the jurisdiction of the new board. Although we concur that duplication of
effort should be avoided, we believe that there may still be a continuing, albeit
perhaps modified, role for the ACNFS in connection with the entirety of the
weapons complex.
The ACNFS is composed of a range of individuals who have agreed to provide
advice to the Department on a part-time basis. Its 15-person membership is
otherwise engaged professionally with safety, environmental, and management
matters outside the complex. The ACNFS thus brings a perspective to problems
confronting the complex that derives from familiarity with other types of facilities,
thus providing a cross-fertilization of views that the Department has lacked in the
past. The DNFSB, which will have full-time commissioners and staff, cannot
play entirely the same role: it will have fewer members; its function will be quasi
regulatory rather than advisory; and over time, its focus and perspective will be
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TIlENUC~ WAGONS COMPLY
defined by its involvement with the complex. Moreover, unlike the DNFSB, the
ACNFS can be charged by the Secretary to examine particular issues of significance
to the Deparunent. The ACNFS and DNFSB are thus not necessarily equivalent,
and there is benefit in retaining a role for the ACNFS in connection with an
overview of the entirety of the complex.
Recommendation The Department should aggressively seek outside advice,
from the ACNFS and other sources, with regard to the many technical issues that
it confronts in the operation of the weapons complex.
Availability of Qualified Personnel
Conclusion The effectiveness of the weapons complex in accomplishing its
diverse, demanding tasks depends on the technical capabilities of DOE and
contractor employees; qualif ed people trained in a number of relevant technical
. ~ .
spectacles are scarce.
While it is widely recognized that upgrading of its facilities will be required if
the weapons complex is to operate efficiently, safely, and without undue risks to
human health or the environment, the performance of the complex ultimately
depends on the technical quality and morale of the staff of DOE and its contractors.
Expertise and skill can partially compensate for obsolescent facilities, but not
even the newest and best facilities can be operated effectively without competent
personnel.
The problem of attracting and repining highly trained technical personnel is
not unique to the weapons complex, but for understandable reasons the problem is
aggravated here. Neither nuclear power nor nuclear weapons enjoy a favorable
image in the eye of the public, and the numbers and qualifications of people
completing studies in nuclear engineering or related fields or embarking on
professional careers in the nuclear community have diminished markedly in
recent years bag., NRC 1989b). Thus the pool of technically qualified personnel
is small and shrinking. At the same time, the need for specialized expertise at the
nuclear weapons complex is extensive and expanding. The fields in which the
complex's needs are most acute include radiation effects, health physics, nuclear
criticality, seismic analysis, environmental engineering, environmental toxicology,
hydrogeology, and occupationad medicine.
Recruitment
The overriding issue relating to the technical strength and vitality of the
complex is, of course, the recruitment, trainin`g, and retention of the best available
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people. In this area, the recruiting prospects of the public sector are at a distinct
disadvantage when compared with those of the private component of the system.
The government's hiring process is cumbersome and time-consuming. The salary
structure available to attract and retain qualified employees is severely limited
and not competitive with private industry in either actual salary or fringe benefits.
Even if the special impediments could be ignored, the highly trained work
force Mom which DOE might recruit essential employees is not large. The DOE
contractors, other private sector firms, and universities, which have been dealing
with these issues for a long time, are all in competition with the government in
this arena. The net consequence has been a serious loss of expertise at DOE
headquarters and in its field offices.
Moreover, often when their on-the-,ob training begins to make new DOE
technical employees effective, they become prime recruiting targets for the
contractors and other segments of private industry. The effectiveness of DOE
headquarters has been further diluted by competition for personnel from other
agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which also require personnel with similar
expertise. All these circumstances have generated a virtual crisis in the shortage
of people with technical expertise in fields related to the environment, health, and
safety a shortage that will be felt even more when the DNFSB is organized.
Within the contractor complex, the technical strengths and personnel
compositions of the laboratory and production components differ strikingly.
Many of the best scientific minds in the country are in the national laboratories
system, working in facilities that are second to none. This technical community is
highly educated: more than half the technical staff have university degrees, most
of them advanced degrees. The laboratories conduct a broad spectrum of research
and development, including areas related to safety and environmental issues, and
they are attractive to people interested in scientific research at the vanguard. The
challenge for the labs may be in the maintenance of skills essential to the
production complex, such as criticality safety, in light of the small pool of
available people in such fields.
The production facilities, on the other hand, have evolved within an entirely
different culture, and they confront different employment challenges. The level
of education of the operating work force is principally at the high school graduate
level. Operators generally are given a modest amount of classroom training on
procedures; the bulk of the training regimen consists of subsequent on-thejob
training under the guidance of a "senior" operator. Technical oversight is performed
by shift engineers generally with undergraduate-level training. However, most of
these engineers have to learn the health-, safety-, and environment-related skills
on the job. The challenge for the production facilities is to attract and maintain, in
the face of intense competition, staff with the necessary skills in the health, safety,
and environmental areas.
Finally, both private and public sector employers smuggle with the painfully
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THE NUC~M WEAPONS COMPLEX
slow process of getting the required security clearances for new employees. This
report is not He place to compare the benefits of securing clearances and over
measures to protect secrecy with the costs these measures impose on progress,
and we do not have a ready solution to recommend. We are, however, convinced
that additional resources should be expended to get proficient staff on the job
faster. In particular, funds devoted to increasing the number of people performing
investigations required for security clearances would be more clan offset by the
increased productivity of the individuals who are cleared more expeditiously as a
result.
Recommendation The Department should increase efforts to recruit highly
competent technical personnelfor all levels of its organization. Efforts should be
made to speed! the security clearance process. The Department should also
establish the conditions necessary to retain personnel by providing them with
opportunities for challenging assignments, participation in the decisionmaking
process, and professional advancement.
Training
DOE places little emphasis on training its employees working in the complex.
The extent and quality of the contractors' training programs within the weapons
complex vary greatly from exemplary to inadequate. One of the better contractor
programs appears to be at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Courses are taught by
plant personnel who are assigned to full-iime training for a set period, after which
they are transferred back into their previous positions. The rotation ensures that
the course content and the instructors remain current. Similarly, trainees attend
classes full time for the duration of their training assignment. The SRS program
benefits greatly from an outstanding training facility (Building 705H), which
contains, in addition to classrooms, laboratories with numerous mock-ups of
facilities and computer simulations of both production and maintenance operations
that allow realistic hands-on training without the interruptions and hazards of on-
thejob training. The DOE training program at Savannah River has barely started.
In contrast, the program at the PUREX (plutonium-uranium extraction) Plant
at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation appears to be poorly organized. It is oriented
strongly toward on-thejob training with a minimum of classroom instruction,
somewhat analogous to an apprenticeship program in a craft, although it is shorter
and more job specific. The complexities and hazards of processing nuclear
materials make it mandatory that production workers have some understanding of
the theory of the processes, in addition to purely mechanical on-thejob aspects.
Programs at Rocky Flats and the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP)
suffer from a similar underemphasis on classroom instruction that needs to be
rectified; fortunately, there are already encouraging signs at both plants. Rocky
Flats has a new training facility and is apparently upgrading its Gaining program.
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MANAGEMENT
33
And Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear Co., operator of ICPP, has adopted a fifth-shift
policy to allow more lime for Gaining, a policy also being instituted at SRS.
While training can generate qualified personnel for Me routine production and
administrative Arks required for He safe operation of the complex, no Raining
can compensate for the shortage of advanced science and technical talent
available to the complex. There is no simple cure for Be ills we have enumerated:
they are part of a national problem.
Recommendation DOE should require each major contractor within the complex
to implement a strong training program with qualified instructors, adequate
classroom sessions on theory, state-of-the-art mock-~s and computer simulations
for hands-on experience, and where necessary, a f~th-shift schedule to allow
adequate timefortrairung. DOE should also place increased emphasis on
training its own personnel.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
line management
